Big Bertha in golf bags again

Using the Big Bertha Alpha — which he calls “the best driver I’ve ever had” — Phil Mickelson tees off the during the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March.(Photo: Andrew Weber/USA TODAY Sports)

Callaway's Big Bertha, which exploded across the globe in 1991 and changed the landscape of drivers forever, has hit golf's battlefields again — and the latest models are bigger, better and faster.

Named for the famous World War I German combat howitzer, the original Big Bertha was a stainless steel wonder in a world of persimmon woods.

With the additions of the Great Big Bertha and the Biggest Big Bertha, the drivers quickly became the most sought piece of equipment in golf. Not only did they revolutionize club designs with the big dogs, the drivers quickly saturated golf courses across the world.

But then Callaway stopped producing them. After cameo reappearances in 2003 with Big Bertha II and in 2004 with Big Bertha 454, the company's silence on the update front was conspicuous.

Well, Callaway's making noise again — double-barrel style. The updated Big Bertha has a companion — the fine-tuned Big Bertha Alpha. Both are more than twice the size of the original Big Bertha.

"Clearly it's a big deal to put a name like Big Bertha on a product," said Alan Hocknell, senior vice president of research and development for Callaway. "So we had to make sure that the product we were working on would stand up to the name. To respect the name but also to take it forward. We're not putting the name on the driver out of some sense of nostalgia ...

"This is not just Big Bertha on another driver. This is game-changing technology. They are both full of technology."

Are they ever.

The Alpha, smaller than the Big Bertha with a 430cc club head, is built for above-average players with above-average swing speeds who prefer less spin that produces a lower trajectory and more roll.

The driver can be adjusted for lie, loft, shot bias and the center of gravity, a first for the company. The Alpha comes with a gravity core, which fits in a carbon tube in the lead of the driver that connects the crown and sole.

Either end can be inserted into the club head, which allows golfers to raise or lower the center of gravity to alter the spin. Four interchangeable weights help control shot shape and head weight.

As with the Alpha, the Big Bertha has an adjustable hosel for loft. The Big Bertha, which has a 460cc club head, also has a sliding 8-gram weight golfers can move along a 5-inch track around the perimeter of the head to be biased to a fade or a draw.

"The main feature with both styles that golfers will notice is forgiveness," said Gerritt Pon, a club-performance analyst for Callaway. "You'll get straighter mis-hits and longer mis-hits. And there is an extreme amount of adjustability, so basically you have a bunch of drivers in one."

Callaway's biggest pitcher, Phil Mickelson, was sold as soon as he started hitting the Alpha. During a superb 2013 that included a birdie-blitz romp in the Waste Management Phoenix Open and a tour de force in winning his first British Open championship for the fifth major triumph of his career, Mickelson mostly took to the course without a driver.

"This year, we have the best driver I've ever hit that lowers my spin rate just like my 3-wood. I drive it longer and straighter with my driver than I did with my 3-wood," Mickelson said.

"It's a whole different weapon in my arsenal now. That's why the 2014 season could be the best year of my career."